On
May 17, 2005 State Superintendent Dr. David Stewart announced
that seventeen schools in West Virginia had been awarded the distinct
honor of becoming a West Virginia School of Excellence.

In
order for a school in West Virginia to achieve this honor, several
aspects of that school must meet extremely high standards, including
a rigorous and challenging curriculum, a safe and drug-free learning
environment, participatory leadership, active teaching and learning,
an environment that strengthens teacher skills, documented student
achievement and implementation of advanced and innovative programs.

The
Barboursville School in Barboursville , West Virginia earned the
right to be part of that list this year. The Barboursville School
's commitment to excellence and high quality instruction marks the
first time an OIEP school has been named as a West Virginia School
of Excellence.

Led
by Principal Charles Buell, this team of teachers and instructional
support staff has consistently raised the bar not only in OIEP schools,
but in schools across this great state. Helen Bean, Jeremy Brunty,
Wanda Wilson, and Deborah Mobley embrace learning for all through
their engaging lessons in their respective content areas. William
DesRochers fills two roles as both a social studies teacher and
a school counselor. The support staff of Barsha Dickerson, Mike
Parsons, Vikki See, and Teddie Hanna offer invaluable assistance
throughout the educational model. The team approach and effort by
everyone at the Barboursville School really have made this award
as well as the continued success of the school possible.

Charlie
Buell says of his staff, “The staff is very excited to have been
recognized in this manner. While going through the school-improvement
study was extraordinarily labor intensive, the process made us all
more effective educators. This is the best crew of individuals with
whom I've ever been associated, and I am very proud of every one
of them.”

Congratulations
from everyone at the Office of Institutional Education Programs
and our schools throughout the field to the Barboursville School
on becoming a West Virginia School of Excellence. Your success is
the benchmark we should all strive to achieve.